Grids & Integration

For renewables to claim a more sizable share of the global energy mix, the adoption of energy storage would need to pick up pace and the rapidly increasing size of the EV fleet will offer a scalable way to ramp up such access, says Fitch Solutions.

After addressing grid connection challenges, the French renewables giant has launched construction on the 256.5 MWp Kiamal Solar Farm. It is now looking to add a second stage of up to 194 MWp, and is exploring commercial options for the approved 380 MWh of energy storage.

The All-Energy Australia 2018 exhibition & conference kicked off in Melbourne today. Safety of products and quality assurance was prominent in discussions at the country’s largest PV conference and trade show in its early hours. Big funding announcements at the opening plenary made headlines.

The University of New South Wales has unveiled a 500 kWh Tesla Powerpack battery at its campus as part of a ten-year energy research trial in partnership with NSW’s electricity transmission network operator TransGrid.

The Dunsborough Community Energy Project is announced as Australia’s first privately funded virtual power plant.

German-headquartered project developer juwi Renewable Energy has inked an agreement with the University of Queensland to deliver a solar+storage hybrid power solution at its research station located in the Great Barrier Reef.

Renewable energy sources, notably solar and wind, are reaching price and performance parity on and off the grid, shows a new Deloitte Global report, highlighting seven trends that are driving this transformation.

Australia’s policy maker for the energy markets has approved the establishment a national register of small-scale distributed energy resources, which will give AEMO and distribution network businesses more data to help in planning and operating the power system as it transforms.

Although initially expected to deliver around 650 MW, Victoria’s first renewable energy auction has smashed the goal, delivering 928 MW of renewable capacity. Six projects will be developed in total, three wind and three solar, under the state’s renewable energy target. In a separate announcement, the Andrews government promised to provide half price solar batteries for 10,000 Victorian households, if re-elected.

By keeping up the current rate of solar PV and wind deployment, Australia is forecast to comfortably exceed the 2020 RET of 33,000 GWh, achieve 26% emissions reduction by 2020/21 and meet its Paris greenhouse emissions target in 2024/25, shows new analysis by the Australian National University (ANU). In 2018 and 2019 combined, over 10 GW of renewable energy could be installed.